The Hindu Business Line : Transport department cracks the whip on overloaded vehicles

Hyderabad, Dec. 2 With figures showing that 60 per cent of all accident deaths happen because of overloaded vehicles, the Transport Department of the Andhra Pradesh Government has cracked the whip on such vehicles.

Top of the list of culprits is trucks carrying sand, mostly from Karimnagar, Krishna, Warangal and Mahboobnagar districts, to the State capital.

As construction activity continues to grow significantly after a lull, quarry owners are sending a big number of sand-laden trucks to Hyderabad.

“As many as 800 sand lorries come to Hyderabad every day. Most of them are overloaded, leading to accidents,” Ms Poonam Malakondaiah, Commissioner of Transport, told Business Line.

Good results

The truck operators have invented a novel way: they come in a fleet of 50-60 at a time, virtually intimidating the vehicles and law-enforcing agencies. These overloaded trucks also cause severe damage to roads, both National Highways and the smaller roads.

“We have launched a major drive across the State with a particular focus on those who serve top cities. We have booked about 1,000 cases so far. We will initiate prosecution in all the instances. The drive has begun showing good results. We have seen a significant drop in fatal accidents,” she said.

It is also found that they are not paying taxes to several departments such as Mining and Commercial Taxes. Some of them are running on old permissions which are no longer valid. The drive also included checks on old and infirm vehicles with poor lighting and brakes.

With the Transport Department stepping up vigil, unscrupulous quarry operators have begun shifting bases. Knowing this, the Transport Department has changed the strategy.

Special teams

“We have formed inter-district teams to tip-off the officials in the neighbouring district to track the offenders. Also, the Department has started checking the lorries at the source itself,” she said.

Apart from sand lorries, trucks carrying heavy loads of granite and cement too were found to have been causing accidents.

“Yet another problem is that sand is being smuggled to Tamil Nadu in a big way from Nellore district. We have informed the Mining Department, asking them to have a look at the issue,” she said.

The Department is aware of the fact that some large public sector units themselves use a large fleet of vehicles.

“We have written to Government agencies such as Singareni Collieries and Civil Supplies to keep their vehicles in good stead,” she said.

More Stories on : Roadways | Andhra Pradesh

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